PLOT: After his girlfriend Sunny is taken into the world of the Cenobites, Aidan Lynch sets out to rescue her. Armed with the mysterious Genesis Configuration, he must survive sadistic cultists, grotesque creatures, and horrors that make death seem like the easier option.
REVIEW: I’ve always been a fan of the Hellraiser franchise. The first two movies are straight-up classics, and while the sequels don’t always get much love, I still have a soft spot for Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, Hellraiser: Bloodline, and Hellraiser: Inferno. There’s just something about Clive Barker’s world that fascinates me. The puzzle box, the Cenobites, and the mythology make this franchise unlike anything else in horror. So a proper Hellraiser video game? Hell yes, I’m in.
Thankfully, Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival delivers where it counts. Saber Interactive hasn’t simply taken a familiar horror name and slapped it onto a generic action game. This feels like Hellraiser, with the grotesque atmosphere that made those early films so memorable.
You play as Aidan Lynch, whose girlfriend Sunny disappears after an encounter with the Genesis Configuration, a puzzle box that opens the door to the Cenobites’ world. Finding her means dealing with the Scarlet Church, a group of fanatics who have taken their devotion to some truly disgusting extremes. I won’t spoil where the story goes, but there’s more here than a series of increasingly ugly encounters.
What Hellraiser: Revival Gets Right
One of the biggest selling points is Doug Bradley returning as Pinhead. Bradley’s voice is such an important part of this franchise, and hearing him again immediately makes everything feel more authentic. Thankfully, Pinhead isn’t treated like a jump-scare machine. The Cenobites are much more frightening when you get the sense that they operate according to rules you don’t fully understand.
Gameplay will be familiar to anyone who enjoys first-person survival horror. There’s exploration, puzzle-solving, resource management, stealth, and plenty of combat. The Genesis Configuration also gives Aidan supernatural abilities, with some spectacularly nasty results. I enjoyed having options instead of being forced to shoot everything that moved, even if the game occasionally makes violence unavoidable.
Visually, this is exactly what I wanted. The environments are grimy and oppressive, packed with chains, elaborate torture devices, and details that are probably best left unexplored. The Labyrinth is a particular highlight. Getting to wander through that nightmare yourself is a very different experience from watching characters do it in the movies. The sound design helps, too. Sometimes a distant noise is enough to make you hesitate before opening the next door. I also loved how certain sounds come directly through the DualSense controller’s speaker, adding another layer to the atmosphere. It’s a small touch, but hearing those creepy noises coming from the controller in your hands makes the whole experience that much more unsettling.
This Game Doesn’t Hold Back
Now, we need to talk about how graphic this thing is. And I’m not just talking about the gore. Yes, there’s a ridiculous amount of mutilation, and some of the things that happen to the human body are absolutely revolting. But there’s also extensive nudity, sexual imagery, and BDSM material. Hellraiser has never exactly been family entertainment, and Revival makes no effort to soften any of it.
Which brings me to a little parenting advice: Don’t be like me and fire this game up while your kid is still awake in his room playing Roblox. I knew what I was getting into, or at least I thought I did. Then I found myself checking to make sure he wasn’t about to wander in at the worst possible moment. Between what was happening onscreen and what was coming through the speakers, I learned pretty quickly that this was an after-bedtime game. Whoops.
I actually respect how far the developers went. The disturbing sexuality and the violence aren’t just decorations added to make the game edgy. That uncomfortable mix of desire, obsession, and suffering is part of what makes Hellraiser what it is. Strip all that away and you’re left with a guy with pins in his head, which was never the, pardon the dad joke, point.
A Few Rough Edges
My one real complaint is the controls. They can be a little wonky, particularly when combat gets hectic and you need to react quickly. I had moments when I knew exactly what I wanted to do, but getting my dude to cooperate felt more difficult than it should have. I adjusted as I played, but the controls never felt quite as smooth as I wanted. It’s frustrating because the combat and supernatural powers are otherwise a lot of fun.
Still, that’s a relatively small complaint compared with how much the game gets right. The atmosphere is excellent, the creature designs are nasty, and the return of Bradley is a treat for longtime fans. More importantly, Revival remembers that Hellraiser should leave you feeling a little uncomfortable. It certainly managed that with me.
There have been some pretty questionable Hellraiser sequels over the years, and while I’ve managed to find something to enjoy in several of them, the franchise hasn’t always lived up to the potential of those original films. Revival reminded me why I’ve loved this world for so long. It takes the mythology seriously, embraces the material’s disturbing nature, and manages to turn it into an enjoyable survival horror experience.
Hellraiser: Revival is near perfect. Tighten up those controls and I’d happily score it higher. As it stands, this is a bloody, beautifully unpleasant trip into Barker’s world, and one I’d recommend to horror fans who know what they’re signing up for.
Just make sure the kids are asleep first.
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